quality of life / yes you can can ...

No, I did not drink these White Claws.

In May of 2022, my mom and dad sat me down to tell me that Dad was done with doctors, that he no longer wished to go through with his cancer treatments, and that after being sober for seven years, not to be surprised if I saw him having a drink every once in a while.

Quality of Life / Yes You Can Can is a 6.5’ x 8’ sculpture, created from 625 of the 24 oz. Black Cherry White Claw cans that my dad drank in the six months after that conversation. Each can was dipped in one of 47 different paint colors to create a pixilated portrait of him at 9 years old. It is a larger-than-life reminder that all that remains when we are gone is the memories people have of us, no matter how incomplete, fabricated, or fragmented they are.

The piece took eight months and was completed one month and one day after what would have been his 69th birthday. Making this piece became ritualistic. The repetitiveness of washing and dipping and tapping each can, taking special care of these throw-away objects, it became a way to spend time with my dad when I could not be with him. To reconcile the past.